Sports, Politics and Our Search for Meaning

When sports and politics become a distraction from the real challenges in our lives.

After the Super Bowl there was a parade in Philadelphia for the victorious Eagles. My loyal readers know that I enjoy football and can appreciate the excitement of the fans. But I was a little taken aback by the response of one interviewee: “It’s like a dream. Every day I wake up and think maybe it is, maybe it didn’t actually happen but then I remember it’s real. I can’t believe it. I’m so excited.”

I get the thrill, the whole underdog thing, the whole back-up quarterback thing, the whole Carson Wentz/Nick Foles story (just proving my creds here). But still… this was a fulfillment of a dream?

I thought of this fan when I read an interesting thought by Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto. Commenting on the current antagonistic political climate in America today, he suggested that political ideology is not the answer when everything in our life goes wrong. What did he mean and how does it connect to the Eagles’ win?

We’re all searching for meaning, for something to lift us out of ourselves, our cares, our worries, for something transcendent. If we don’t have a religious perspective or don’t appreciate that a relationship with God can offer that experience, we still need something. So we turn to politics or sports. And we invest all that desire for meaning, that desire to be lifted, that desire for something more, all that emotional energy in our political viewpoints or in cheering for our team. And when they win we are lifted, but it’s oh so brief. It doesn’t last. And when they lose, we are devastated. We have to yell at our opponents, we have to verbally (or sometimes physically) attack them. Because in that moment, our lives have just become emptier.

Sports can be fun; I’m a fan. I appreciate good playing and can get excited when a team wins. But then it’s time to move on – to life’s real efforts and challenges.

And politics can be meaningful. I believe we should vote and get involved in community activism if there’s an issue that speaks to us. It’s the level of emotion and animosity that seems to me to be displaced, to perhaps embody, as Dr. Peterson alludes, more than a frustration with politics, but a deeper dissatisfaction with our lives.

When “our team” wins we can forget about our troubles for the moment. But then reality intrudes and our problems are still there.

When our lives are out of control, when we’re frustrated at our jobs, when our teenagers refuse to listen, when our marriages are broken or our children are struggling, it’s not the fault (per Jordan Peterson) of “capitalism or the radical left”. But we’d like it to be. We’d like someone or something to blame. We’d like to know that if we only solved this or changed that, it would all work out.

But real life isn’t like that. There aren’t easy villains and easy solutions despite how much we wish there were.

When “our team” wins the Super Bowl perhaps we can forget about our troubles for the moment. We are part of something bigger that ourselves, a group of loyal fans who are all joyous and celebrating together. But then it ends and reality intrudes. And the problems and challenges are still there. And we are no closer to a solution.

And in the moment our candidate wins the election, perhaps we truly believe that life will be different. Although this is certainly more important that football, it ultimately won’t help us in the intimate areas of our lives, in the places where we really live. It won’t improve our marriages, our relationship with our children. But mostly it won’t give our lives the meaning we seek and need.

So let’s enjoy those sports events as a brief break, a chance to rejuvenate. And let’s get involved in politics as a way to take responsibility for our world.

But let’s save all that emotion for the relationships that really count – our families and our God. Let’s take all that energy and pour it into the spiritual, the one place where our individual efforts will truly be rewarded in kind.

About the Author

Emuna Braverman has a law degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters in in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. She lives with her husband and nine children in Los Angeles where they both work for Aish HaTorah. When she isn''t writing for the Internet or taking care of her family, Emuna teaches classes on Judaism, organizes gourmet kosher cooking groups and hosts many Shabbos guests. She is the cofounder of www.gourmetkoshercooking.com.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 1

(1)
Anonymous,
February 19, 2018 3:33 PM

Let's value people more than we value things

In addition to what you wrote about sports and politics, I wanted to add the sentiment in my one line summary. Yes, it is fun to shop and treat oneself to a "toy" every now and again. However, if a weekly Target run becomes a hobby then I think we need to look deeper at what ISN'T being addressed in our personal lives.

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My nephew is having his bar mitzvah and I am thinking of a gift. In the old days, the gift of choice was a fountain pen, then a Walkman, and today an iPod. But I want to get him something special. What do you suggest?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Since this event celebrates the young person becoming obligated in the commandments, the most appropriate gift is, naturally, one that gives a deeper understanding of the Jewish heritage and enables one to better perform the mitzvot! (An iPod, s/he can get anytime.)

With that in mind, my favorite gift idea is a tzedakah (charity) box. Every Jew should have a tzedakah box in his home, so he can drop in change on a regular basis. The money can then be given to support a Jewish school or institution -- in your home town or in Israel (every Jews’ “home town”). There are beautiful tzedakah boxes made of wood and silver, and you can see a selection here.

For boys, a really beautiful gift is a pair of tefillin, the black leather boxes which contain parchments of Torah verses, worn on the bicep and the head. Owning a pair of Tefillin (and wearing them!) is an important part of Jewish identity. But since they are expensive (about $400), not every Bar Mitzvah boy has a pair. To make sure you get kosher Tefillin, see here.

In 1944, the Nazis perpetrated the Children's Action in the Kovno Ghetto. That day and the next, German soldiers conducted house-to-house searches to round up all children under age 12 (and adults over 55) -- and sent them to their deaths at Fort IX. Eventually, the Germans blew up every house with grenades and dynamite, on suspicion that Jews might be in hiding in underground bunkers. They then poured gasoline over much of the former ghetto and incinerated it. Of the 37,000 Jews in Kovno before the Holocaust, less than 10 percent survived. One of the survivors was Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who later published a stirring collection of rabbinical responsa, detailing his life-and-death decisions during the Holocaust. Also on this date, in 1937, American Jews held a massive anti-Nazi rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a letter to someone who found it difficult to study Torah, the 20th century sage the Chazon Ish wrote:

"Some people find it hard to be diligent in their Torah studies. But the difficulty persists only for a short while - if the person sincerely resolves to submerge himself in his studies. Very quickly the feelings of difficulty will go away and he will find that there is no worldly pleasure that can compare with the pleasure of studying Torah diligently."

Although actions generally have much greater impact than thoughts, thoughts may have a more serious effect in several areas.

The distance that our hands can reach is quite limited. The ears can hear from a much greater distance, and the reach of the eye is much farther yet. Thought, however, is virtually limitless in its reach. We can think of objects millions of light years away, and so we have a much greater selection of improper thoughts than of improper actions.

Thought also lacks the restraints that can deter actions. One may refrain from an improper act for fear of punishment or because of social disapproval, but the privacy of thought places it beyond these restraints.

Furthermore, thoughts create attitudes and mindsets. An improper action creates a certain amount of damage, but an improper mindset can create a multitude of improper actions. Finally, an improper mindset can numb our conscience and render us less sensitive to the effects of our actions. We therefore do not feel the guilt that would otherwise come from doing an improper act.

We may not be able to avoid the occurrence of improper impulses, but we should promptly reject them and not permit them to dwell in our mind.

Today I shall...

make special effort to avoid harboring improper thoughts.

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Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...